Days 1-8

This is my first post on my first blog.  Yikes!  Where to begin?  Fairly nervous at the start.  Heading into the unknown, wondering what life (and work) in the desert would be like.  The first step was getting here.  Spent a lot of time in the air to get to my final destination, with several stops along the way.  I was actually airborne for almost 19 hours, most of it front-loaded at the start of my trip.  The best part was being on a 767, which was fairly comfortable and spacious.  After adding in layovers/way points, I spent a little over a week on the road before getting to Shindand.  Stayed in Kandahar a few days.  Have never been to a more dusty place in my life!  The city is located on really fine dirt.  Given that most of the roads are not paved and there are lots of vehicles, a potent cocktail is produced.  Many people wear masks or clothing over their noses and mouths to protect themselves.  Kandahar Airbase is built up quite a bit.  I was surprised by what was available there.  Prominent among these was a square boardwalk, with a couple dozen shops ran by locals, as well as a couple American establishments like Green Beans, KFC (24 hours), and a full-blown TGIF!  There is also a bazaar on the compound, though I never went.  The days were not too bad, but the nights were rough!  It was not necessarily cold in our transient living quarters (a VERY large tent with 90 bunkbeds occupying half the area), but the ventilation circulated right over me, providing a constant cool breeze.  Add to that the worst bed I have ever slept on, I did not get any real sleep for several days (remember I am still suffering from jetlag).  I could literally feel every spring in this mattress, forming evenly-spaced thin pressure areas down my back.  Brutal!  I was very happy to finally get a flight here to Shindand, my "permanent" assignment for this tour.  Until next time...